1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a solar chimney arrangement. A solar chimney arrangement typically includes a solar chimney having an associated wind turbine, the wind turbine being energised in response to an updraft of solar-heated air in the chimney. Such an arrangement can be environmentally friendly.
2. Description of Related Art
In a known form of solar chimney, the air for use in the updraft is solar-heated beneath a glass collector roof. To obtain a volume of heated air sufficient to effect sustained operation of a wind turbine of a size suitable for the commercial generation of electricity, the collector roof needs to cover a large land area, and is of a construction both expensive to erect and costly to maintain.
French patent 2,436,268 shows a chimney having a solar panel around its base, to form an air-heating chamber, whereby the air circulates normally i.e by natural in-draught from the outside to the inside of the container, to rise in the chimney stack.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,393 describes a chimney using a mountain as support, wherein an enclosed air mass is cooled at high altitude below the temperature of the surrounding air. The cooler, denser air flows down the duct towards lower altitude. It shows an evaporative spray at the top of the duct to cool the incoming air. This system differs from a solar chimney proposing a completely different result of a downward air flow and spraying the air at the top in order to create this effect.
It is the object of this invention to improve upon the efficiency of the known solar collection systems, by increasing the temperature difference between the base and the top of the chimney, generating an upward air flow, with an arrangement of air turbines generators at the lower part of the chimney that will extract the energy of the upcoming air and produce electric power, decreasing the construction cost reaching higher altitudes and using an evaporative spray designed to capture the polluted particles in the air and as result, clean and filter the polluted air from a city.
From one aspect of the invention we now propose a solar chimney arrangement which includes an air cleaning system by means of spraying a fine mist of electrically charged water, sprayed across the top of the tower, attracting pollution in the air like sulfur dioxide, soot and other particles.
From another aspect of the invention we propose a solar chimney arrangement in which a solar chimney is build using a mountain as support reaching higher altitudes increasing the pressure difference and improving the efficiency of the system. This will allow the chimney to build the chimney up to 2,000 meters above the base of the chimney.
The temperature difference can be increased by building the chimney so as the top of the chimney will be above the thermic ceiling.